


There's No Place Like Home

by LonelyThursday



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Era, Davey is Confused, Family, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Getting Lost, Hurt/Comfort, The Refuge (Newsies), the Jacobs just adopt all the newsies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27847698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyThursday/pseuds/LonelyThursday
Summary: Or: Esther and Mayer Jacobs adopt all the newsies while Davey is in the refuge, and Davey comes home very confused.The chase scene doesn't go as well as it did in the musical, and not everyone gets away.
Relationships: David Jacobs & Jack Kelly, David Jacobs & Les Jacobs
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	There's No Place Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like the Jacobs would take one look at the newsies and be like "these are our kids now"

“I was just trying to make money for my family.”

It’s faint, barely even a whisper, but due to how close they are currently, Jack can still hear it over the cries and whimpers that fill the air in the Refuge. 

“I know,” he answers without turning to face the kid. 

“This wasn’t supposed to happen; I was just trying to feed my family.”

“I know!” Jack whispers harshly, finally turning to face his bunk mate. “I know, Dave, and I’se real sorry I gotcha inta this mess, but whinin’ ‘bout it ain’t gonna make things any better. If yer gonna make it through in here, then ya gotta keep yer head down. Don’t draw attention ta yerself, alright? I’se sorry ‘boutcha family, but ya gotta focus on _you_ right now.”

“I hope Les is okay,” Davey mutters, averting his gaze. 

Jack’s face softens. “If they caught him, they woulda rubbed it in. I’se sure he got away, and I promise the fellas’ll take care a him.”

“...Thanks, Jack.”

**~•~**

“ _Run for it!”_

There had been a man, and Jack said to run. There’d been lots of shouting and yelling, but Jack said to _run._

So he ran. 

He ran until there wasn’t any noise anymore. He ran until the shouting had disappeared in the distance. He ran until he couldn’t run anymore. 

And now he’s lost. 

He’s never been to _this_ part of the city; he isn’t even sure which way he came from. He doesn’t know where David is, or Jack, and he just wants to go home!

But he can’t go home, he doesn’t know where home is, and it’s getting dark. His mom had never let him be out past dark before, even if David was with him. 

Now he’s _alone_. 

There are still a few people on the streets, but most of them are rushing home. None of them pay any attention to a lowly nine-year-old — almost ten — wandering around by himself. Without any other idea what to do, Les sits down on the stoop of rundown tenement building, and starts to cry. The boys at school say that men don’t cry, and crying makes you a sissy, but his mom always says that real men cry when they need to, and that there’s nothing wrong with that. 

And Les definitely needs to cry right now. 

He isn’t sure how long he sits there, but no one ever asks him what’s wrong, all the passersby give him a wide berth, and as the sky grows darker, less people pass by. 

The sun has long since set when someone finally stops in front of Les. He heard them approach, but he makes no move to look at them. He’s almost afraid of what he’ll see. 

“Hey, shortstack.” It’s a man’s voice. Well no, not a man — it’s a boy’s voice, the person in front of him is a boy, probably a little older than Les himself. He’s clearly talking to Les, but Les still doesn’t look up. “Uh, new kid? Little man? Um, uh, whadija say yer name was? Oh! Les?”

Les can’t help but look up at that. How’d this boy know who he was?

It’s hard to tell the boy’s height when he’s kneeling, but he’s definitely closer to David’s age than Les’. From what little he can make out in the dim street light, the boy has suntanned skin, with dirt smudged along his face like Les sometimes has after going to the park. His clothes are dirty, and well worn, but they’ve been carefully patched up whenever they’ve ripped. But what really catches Les’ attention is the backwards newsboy cap on his head. 

“You’re a newsie!” Les realizes excitedly. That’s how he knew Les’ name, he was at the circulation desk this morning. 

“Yeah, I’m Albert,” he introduces himself. “Whatcha doing all the way down here?”

“There was a man and Jack said to run so I did,” Les explains. “I didn’t know when to stop runnin’ so I kept goin’ ‘til I didn’t hear shoutin’ no more. ‘N now I don’t know where I am.”

Albert nods gravely at Les’ story. “You know what happened ta Jack or yer brother?”

Les shakes his head as a whole new round of tears starts. “I don’t know.”

“Okay,” Albert says gently, placing a comforting hand on Les’ shoulder. “That’s okay, I’m sure they’se fine. Do ya want me to walk ya home?” Les nods. “Okay, can ya tell me where ya live?”

Les wipes his tears off on his sleeve and tells him his address. Albert nods. 

“Well that ain’t too far, kid, c’mon,” Albert holds his hand out. Les doesn’t hesitate to take it. 

They spend the entire walk talking about Les’ first day as a newsie. Albert asks a few questions here and there, but mostly he just lets Les ramble about his day. 

Les is in the middle of telling Albert about a woman who gave him a whole dime for a pape when he suddenly recognizes his surroundings.

“I know where we are!” He exclaims, pulling on Albert’s arm so that he’ll walk faster. “I live just over here!”

Les drags Albert over to a building with a deli on the first floor, and apartments above. They enter through the residential door, and head up to the fourth floor where the Jacobs family lives. Albert knocks on the door since Les doesn’t have a key, and the two wait. 

A moment later the door is pulled open a crack and a man peers out. 

“Pop!” Les yells. The man pulls the door all the way open and opens his arms for Les to fling himself in, careful of the man’s busted leg. 

“Lester! Where have you been? Where’s David?” The man asks before he catches sight of Albert. “Who’s this?”

A woman walks up to the door and Les disengages from his dad to hug the woman. “Mom!”

“Oh, Les!” The woman sobs, holding her youngest child close. “We were so worried about you!”

“I’se Albert,” Al introduces himself, offering the man his hand without spitting in it — like adults do. “I found Les sittin’ outside my house, an’ I figured I should walk him home.”

“Thank you for bringing our son home, Albert,” Mr. Jacobs says, stepping aside to make room in the doorway. “Please, come in.”

Albert awkwardly steps into the Jacobs’ home. He’s never been in anyone’s home before — well, except his own, but he tries to spend as little time there as possible — so he’s not sure how to act in this situation. 

“A scary man was chasin’ me, and Davey, and Jack!” Les says as a girl – a little bit older than Albert himself – exits what Albert assumes is a bedroom. 

“Where’s David?” The newcomer asks as Mrs. Jacobs inspects Les’ face for injuries. 

“I dunno,” Les mumbles. Both the Jacobs parents look to Albert for answers. Albert shifts uncomfortably under their gazes, but answers honestly. 

“Have you ever hear a the Refuge?” All four shake their heads. “It’s a- it’s a jail fer underage kids. Davey probably ended up there.”

“Jail!?” Mrs. Jacobs exclaims. She rounds on her son. “Were you breaking a law?”

“I don’t think so?” Les answers hesitantly, suddenly doubting himself. What if they _were_ breaking the law? 

“The bulls don’t really care if they’se breakin’ a law er not,” Albert cuts in. “The more kids in the Refuge, the more the city pays ‘em. They takes as many kids as they can catch.”

“That’s awful!” The girl — who must be Les’ sister — exclaims. Albert nods awkwardly, sure it’s awful, but it’s not like there’s anything they can do about it, that’s just how it is. 

Mrs. Jacobs clears her throat after a moment. “Would you like to stay for supper, Albert? We have stew still on the stove for when David and Lester came back, you’re more than welcome to have some.”

“Oh, er, no thank you, ma’am,” Albert stutters. “I should be gettin’ home.”

“Please, Albert?” Les turns his puppy dog eyes on the ginger. 

“Um, alright,” Albert agrees tentatively, not wanting to seem rude, but also itching to get out of this uncomfortable situation. Maybe when he gets out of here he’ll skip going home all together and just bunk at the lodge. 

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” Mr. Jacobs says and Mrs. Jacobs dishes up two bowls of stew. “We were counting on David and Les to bring in some extra money while my leg heals, but I don’t want to send Les out there by himself.”

“Me an’ the boys wouldn’t mind taking him,'' Albert pipes up. “I can pick him up tomorrow mornin’, take him ta the circulation gate. We even got a fund fer new newsies that ain’t got money fer papes that he can borrow from.”

“Oh we couldn’t possibly ask you to do that!” Mrs. Jacobs protests. 

“‘S no problem, ya live between my house an’ the gate,” Albert says, not mentioning that he’s planning on sleeping at the lodge, and a detour to the Jacobs’ apartment will take him an extra twenty minutes at least. It’s not like he really minds. 

Albert startles when Les launches himself into the older newsie’s side, but relaxes once he realizes it’s just a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“‘S no problem, shortstack. Us newsies gotta stick together.”

“Alright, Lester, Sarah, it’s time for bed, it’s late and I’m sure Albert's parents are worried about him,” Mrs. Jacobs ushers her children. Albert stands, taking his as his cue to leave, Mr. Jacobs stands as well, using the table for support.

“Thank you, Albert,” he says, offering his free hand for a shake. “For bringing Les home, and for offering to pick him up, his mother and I really don’t like the idea of him wandering the city by himself.”

“It’s no problem, sir,” Albert says.

After saying goodbye to the Jacobs, Albert hightails it straight for the newsboy lodge. He doesn’t even bother trying the door — it’s definitely locked by now — instead, he heads for the fire escape, and straight up to where he _knows_ Race is smoking.

“What are you doin’ here?” Race asks as Albert maneuvers himself onto the platform. “I thought you was sleepin’ at home tonight.”

“Jack’s in da Refuge.” Race freezes for a second, then slowly lets out a stream of smoke.

“How do ya know?” He asks calmly.

“Remember those new kids from earlier?” Race nods. “The younger one was on my stoop. They was being chased by the bulls an’ he got lost.”

“He’s too young ta be sellin’ by himself.”

“I’se gonna pick him up tomorrow, walk him ta the gate, he can sell wit’ me.”

Race nods, and the two sit there in silence until Race finishes his cigar. Albert sleeps in Race’s bunk, unwilling to pay for his own bed for the night. 

**~•~**

“C’mon!” At this point, Jack’s practically perfected breaking out of the Refuge to a science, but breaking out a whole other person? Not as easy. 

It’s taken him nearly a month, but a bad summer storm has finally given Jack the cover he needs to get both himself and Davey out of there. Of course that also means he and Davey are tearing through the streets of New York while the heavens open up above them, but honestly, Davey welcomes the rain, for the first time since being taken to the Refuge, he feels clean. 

“Under here,” Jack ushers Davey under the awning of a florist shop, closed for the day as of about ten minutes ago. 

“Think they’re following us?” Davey pants as he leans against the brick wall for support. 

“Nah,” Jack grins. “We’se clear.”

“That was insane,” Davey laughs, a little hysterically. “This is insane.”

Jack throws his head back and laughs. “This is nothin’, remind me ta tell ya ‘bout the time I rode out on Teddy Roosevelt’s carriage.”

“That can’t possibly be true,” Davey pants. 

“Oh, it’s true, but I’ll tell ya ‘bout it later. Where do ya live? I’ll walk ya home, apologize ta ya folks fer keepin’ ya a little late.”

“It’s this way,” Davey points, ignoring the fact that three weeks is more than a _little_ late.

He and Jack share a look before they sprint across the street to duck under another awning. They continue this pattern of sprinting from one awning for several minutes before Davey brings up what’s been on his mind all day. 

“It’s Les’ birthday today, if I’ve got the date right.”

Jack nods in understanding. “Guess it’s a good thing I got him a present, then.”

“You got him a present?” Davey asks. When could Jack have _possibly_ gotten Les a present?

“You,” Jack informs him with a grin. Davey rolls his eyes. 

“I hope he’s been doing okay. You know, since we got arrested.”

“I’se sure he’s fine,” Jack pats his back reassuringly. “And I’se sure he’ll be real happy ta see ya.”

“Yeah…” Davey trails off. He doesn’t know what happened after the bulls chased them, and he’s been worrying about it for the last month. What if something happened? What if Les got lost? What if his family had to move because they didn’t have enough money?

There were just so many unknowns. 

“C’mon,” Jack says, shaking Davey out of his thoughts. “‘S time ta go home.”

The two of them sprint the rest of the way to the Jacobs’ apartment, downpour be damned, they’re _free!_

“This one, it’s this one,” Davey pants, grabbing Jack’s hand and pulling him towards his building. 

The more steps they climb, the more jittery Davey gets. He’s going to see his family again! He’s trying to focus only on that and deal with whatever consequences come from his baseless incarceration later. 

One of the first things he notices, as he gets closer to his family’s home, is the noise of what sounds like a large gathering that gets louder the farther they go. It almost sounds like his family is having a party for Les. The Jacobs’s don’t _do_ parties. They would celebrate Les’ birthday, sure, but they have over a few family friends at most. Nothing this loud. 

“Sounds like a real humdinger,” whistles Jack. “Ya folks must really know how ta throw a party.”

“I don’t understand,” Davey shakes his head. They’re standing in front of his family’s place, and it’s clear the ruckus is coming from inside, but his family is _never_ this loud. 

“Only way ta get answers is ta knock!” Jack says, knocking on the door before Davey can turn and run. 

After a few seconds with no response — a couple seconds that Davey spends becoming more and more worried that his family doesn’t live here anymore — Jack raises his hand to knock again, but the door swings open before he gets a chance. 

“Hey!” The boy who answers the door exclaims happily. Davey doesn’t know him, but the boy seems to either know him or Jack seeing as he seems very excited to see them. 

Jack’s jaw drops, but before he can formulate something to say, the boy grabs Davey by the shoulders and drags him into the apartment. 

“Look what da cat dragged in!” The boy declares loudly. 

There are a lot of people in the room, and Davey doesn’t recognize any of the ones in his immediate vicinity. Before he can look around any, however, a small blur collides with him. 

“DAVEY!” The blur yells in a _very_ familiar voice, as it wraps its arms around Davey as tight as it can. 

“Les?” Davey croaks, already feeling the tears building. 

“David!” His mom cries from across the room. 

_“Mom!”_ The world blurs around him and the only thing keeping him upright until his mother reaches him is Les, still holding tight. 

His mom envelopes both of them in a hug. His sister quickly joins, and his father joins soon after. 

“Oh David,” his mom sobs, pulling back just enough to place kisses all over his face. “We’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you all, too,” Davey agrees, finally wiping the tears from his eyes. Vision newly cleared, Davey quickly realizes that his family’s home is full of strange children. 

They’re not kids from temple, Davey would have recognized at least _some_ of them if they were. They’re just… a bunch of random kids. So many kids. Why are they here?

Davey turns to see what Jack thinks, but finds that his friend has been swarmed into his own group hug. One of the kids hugging Jack is familiar though, after all, how many one-legged blond boys has Davey met in his life?”

“The newsies?” Davey blurts out, startled to realize that his home is filled with newsboys and girls. 

“A course!” The kid that dragged Davey into the apartment laughed, throwing an arm around Davey’s shoulders. “Albo here,” the boy gestures to his left, but there are too many kids for Davey to tell which one is ‘Albo’. “Found Les wanderin’ ‘round by himself at night, so’s we adopted him.”

“And _we_ adopted _them,”_ Mayer jokes, patting one of the kids on the back. 

“They’ve been wonderful!” Esther gushes, dragging the two newsies closest to her into a hug, one of them mock-struggles, but the other one hugs her back. “At _least_ one of them comes by every morning to pick up Les, and then an entirely different one brings him home every night before dinner, and they’re so polite! Always offering to help me carry the groceries, or walking with Sarah when she’s doing her rounds-”

“And the free newspapers aren’t bad either,” Mayer adds jokingly. 

“And this must be the famous Jack Kelly!” Esther exclaims, looking behind Davey. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Jack says politely as he takes a step forward. He’s wearing a look that Davey had seen many time on the day they met, it’s the look he uses when he’s trying to get women to buy papes from him, it’s his I’m-a-polite-and-respectful-young-man-wouldn’t-you-like-to-buy-a-newspaper-from-me-? look. 

“You need to take better care of yourself, young man,” Esther scolds. “These children were worried sick about you!”

Many of the newsies send Jack pitiful looks to emphasize Esther’s point. Jack pretends to punch the one closest to him, a short boy with dark hair, who falls to the ground as if wounded, dramatically clutching his heart. 

Esther laughs. “You two go get changed, you’re soaked to the bone!” She orders. “When you get back we’ll have Les’ extra special birthday dinner!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs,” Jack says politely as he helps the boy off the ground. 

“Thank you, mom.” Davey tries to follow his mother’s directions, but is stopped by Les, who’s still clinging to his leg. 

“Les-”

“I missed you,” Les whispers, eyes full of tears. 

“I missed you too,” Davey admits, hugging his brother back, soaking clothes forgotten. 

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, the kid that pulled Davey into the apartment is Race, Esther hugged Elmer and Smalls, and Jack pretended to punch Romeo  
> none of that is important, but it makes me happy
> 
> Also Buttons and Sarah are BEST FRIENDS and you can fight me
> 
> Stay Safe  
> Wear a Mask  
> Happy Holidays  
> I LOve YOu All


End file.
